Chapter 06
Paulina nodded as she looked over everything. All the decorations were in place, much to Sam's annoyance for having to be the one to help Paulina setup everything. She knew she could be a bit of a perfectionist, and no one would pay all that much attention to the decorations or painstakingly perfected arrangement of food and beverages, but Paulina couldn't help it. Whenever she threw a party, she needed to make things as perfect as possible, even if her efforts were overlooked by the guests. She spent months of planning and organizing to put together school dances, and she usually received no recognition for her work. But that didn't matter if everyone enjoyed the dance or party. The sudden decision to throw this party didn't leave her with much time to pull it altogether, but with Sam's help, they managed it somehow.
They still had some time before the party was scheduled to begin, so Paulina busied herself with making sure everything was perfect for when guests started arriving. Unfortunately, she now found herself with nothing to do except wait. Sam left a little while ago to go home and get ready for the party. Paulina was already dressed in a glittery black top that only had one strap over her left shoulder and snug leather pants.
"You certainly go all out for these things."
The voice made Paulina turn away from leaning against the bar of the club. She opened her mouth to respond but suddenly found herself voiceless. It wasn't her first time meeting with the famous singer, her idol. They met more than a year ago when Ember played at the school dance before it got interrupted by the ghost that attacked Danny.
"Oh, carry that over to the stage and start setting up," Ember instructed, pointing toward the stage area.
"I never said I was going to be your roadie," Danny complained, though there was no heat behind it. He rolled his blue eyes at the ghost as he carried some of the band's equipment over to the stage.
"You came here together?" Paulina questioned, finding her voice. "That was supposed to be a surprise!" She sighed, disappointed that the whole mystery of the band playing at the party was ruined.
"Was that supposed to be a surprise?" Ember winced. "Sorry. I didn't realize. It's just been a while since I saw him," she pointed a thumb toward Danny. "I thought I'd pop over and harass him before the party. And who ever thought I would want to see him again?" Ember laughed, shaking her head as she walked over to join Paulina by the bar. "I thought he was such a stick in the mud the first time we met."
Paulina folded her arms, her eyes narrowing somewhat at the ghostly singer. "You put him under a love spell that made him all obsessed with Sam?"
Ember looked away, rubbing at the back of her neck. "Ah, so you heard about that, huh?"
"And you made Sam kiss Dash?" Paulina's mouth pursed as her gaze darkened. "Dash, who Danny is head over heels for now."
"Well, they didn't like each back then," Ember tried to reason. In the next moment, a wicked grin spread onto her face. "Now just imagine if Dash had been on that roof instead of Sam, and both he and Danny were hit with that love song." An evil twinkle sparked in her eyes.
Paulina thought about it, amused at forcing Dash to love Danny back. Then she shook her head, erasing the thought from her mind. "It wouldn't have worked in the end. That was just fabricated emotions. You can't just put a spell on Dash to make him love Danny back. Dash needs to come to the realization that he loves Danny on his own." She nodded firmly.
"You think the block head actually likes Danny back?" Ember's brow rose in surprise. Her voice was filled with skepticism. She didn't believe that Dash would ever love Danny in return.
Paulina frowned even more. "He's just being a total idiot. He's completely blind if he can't realize he loves Danny."
"I hope you're not planning something reckless that might backfire horribly on you."
"I couldn't even if I wanted to. Dash won't talk to me." Paulina scowled at that fact. What was wrong with the men in life? Dash cut her out. Kwan was keeping secrets. Danny was horribly depressed and trying to seek comfort with someone other than Dash. Tucker was in denial about wanting to date Sam. Paulina resisted the urge to gather all four of them and smack them senseless for being idiots.
"What exactly are you two talking about?" Danny questioned as he walked over to join them. The rest of Ember's band arrived to set up all their equipment, leaving Danny with nothing else to do.
Paulina glanced over, appraising the tight fit of his jeans and the sleeveless topped that hugged his body. If the men at this party didn't take notice of Danny, they were all blind idiots. "Oh, not much," she said, grinning.
Danny raised an eyebrow at them as he frowned in suspicion. "I'm just going to pretend like I don't think you two were plotting something."
"Always the doubter," Ember said with an exaggerated tired sigh. "I'm wounded. Here I thought we were all friends, and you actually don't trust us. Would we ever plot something against our dear friend?" She turned to Paulina for an answer.
"Oh, of course not." Paulina nodded then frowned disapprovingly at Danny. "You should really be more trusting of your friends, Danny."
"I'm totally trusting," Danny argued.
"Yeah, so trusting he let one of his best friends dress him drag," Tucker said as he entered the club. A mad grin broke across his face when he saw Danny blushing furiously.
"Why does no one want to forget about that?" Danny groaned and buried his face in his folded arms on the counter of the bar. "I'm forever going to be that guy that dressed in drag."
"You know, we only tease you about it because you make it so easy to provoke a reaction," Ember pointed out as she reached around Paulina to poke Danny in the side. She didn't seem to take notice of the way Paulina gulped nervously as she leaned on the other woman.
"Yeah, I mean, you don't see us teasing Abner, and he apparently dresses in drag a lot," Tucker added.
"And it's not like it's that bad of a thing," Paulina said as Ember pulled away from her with a quick comment about having to run sound checks before everyone arrived. "You did make a really pretty girl."
"I'm not sure whether I should be flattered or mortified by that," Danny mumbled into his arms.
"What did you guys do to him?" Sam asked when she arrived to see Danny bent over the counter of the bar.
Paulina grinned. "Oh, just the usual teasing. You would think after a year he would get over his embarrassment of dressing in drag."
Sam rolled her violet eyes then walked over and slapped her hands down on top of Danny's shoulders. "I don't know why you find it so humiliating," she said as she shook him. "You looked great. Even," she shot a look at Paulina, "in that pink dress."
"I so don't envy you." Tucker tried but couldn't stop his laughter at the teasing Danny had to endure.
Danny lifted his head and glanced at Paulina. "Is Kwan coming tonight?"
With a miserably sigh, Paulina shook her head. "No, he said he couldn't get off work." She frowned, remembering that conversation. She begged him to come, but he refused with that weak excuse. Why was Kwan working so much? It was summer! They should have some time off to enjoy themselves before having to return to college. There was also still the fact that Kwan never told his parents about being home for the summer. She didn't even know where Kwan was staying since it obviously wasn't with his parents.
"Speaking of workaholics," Sam said, turning a narrow eyed glare on Tucker. "Why are you working so much? You said you weren't even sure you could make it tonight because of work."
"You know, if I was planning something, then I probably want it to be a surprise." Tucker folded his arms. "And constantly trying to weasel the information out of me will only ruin that."
"Oh, just tell us," Sam demanded with a stamp of frustration.
Tucker frowned but sighed. "Humpty Dumpty is supposed to make a tour stop here near the end of summer. I was trying to save up enough money to surprise you all with tickets."
"If you needed the money, I could have loaned you some," Sam offered.
"No!" The force of Tucker's rejection surprised them all. "It was," he sighed. "They're playing on your birthday. I wanted to get the tickets myself as a birthday present for you."
"Oh." Sam blinked then her eyes widened with surprise. "Oh!" She blushed. "I'm sorry I pressed you about it, but you were being so damn secretive."
Behind Sam's back, Danny and Paulina shared a knowing grin. Tucker clearly wanted to impress Sam with the gift of tickets to one of their favorite bands. Paulina knew plenty of guys that would get tickets to see a band with her as a date. Tucker was merely using the excuse of inviting all of them along to prove it wasn't a date, though both she and Danny knew that he wanted it to be a date.
"Oh! Looks like people are arriving," Paulina said gleefully as she clapped her hands together. Some of the guests she invited started entering the club, and she hurried over to greet them like a good hostess. With a friendly smile, she welcomed each guest that arrived. By the time the last person came, her face hurt from smiling so much.
Music started playing, and Paulina glanced toward the stage as Ember began singing. She smiled as she watched the ghost belting out one of her latest songs. Then she went in search of her friends, Danny in particular, to see how they were doing. Sam and Tucker were dancing amid the crowd, pretending that they weren't dancing as a couple. Paulina rolled her eyes at that. When she found him, Danny was speaking to some redhead who was an inch or two taller with some bulk to his broad shoulders. Danny blushed lightly as the man leaned over him, one hand placed close to Danny's head against the wall. Paulina smiled sadly. At least Danny seemed to be enjoying himself. Part of her wanted to go over there and break them up, for Dash, but Paulina resisted that selfishness. Danny deserved to find someone, and Paulina didn't want to stand in his way.
"Great party, Paulina," a man said as he clapped a hand on her shoulder.
"Thanks." Paulina smiled, turning toward him. She only vaguely recognized him from when she greeted people upon arrival and guessed that he was one of the people that Sam invited. He was a half a head tall than she was, and he had lean muscles under the loose black shirt that he wore. "I don't think I know your name."
"It's Andrew." He smiled, and it made him look charming. Reaching up, he ran a hand through his short, dark locks. "I always wanted to say hi to you in high school, but," he shrugged with a sheepish look, "I always figured you were out of my league. I mean, I wasn't exactly in the same popular circle as you."
"I was pretty horrible in high school, wasn't I?" Paulina frowned, hugging her arms around her body. Her eyes darted over to where Danny was still chatting with that redhead. If she was nicer back then, maybe she would have found a great guy like Danny to date. Instead she only seemed to attract jerks.
"I wouldn't have said so." Andrew's head was bowed somewhat, and his brown eyes flicked up toward Paulina. "I always thought you were kind of perfect."
Paulina shook her head, some of her long ebony hair slipping past one shoulder. "I'm hardly perfect," she mumbled, flattered that anyone would still say something like that to her. She knew she had flaws, though most people in high school overlooked them because she was so popular. "Have you decided on what you're going to major in?"
Andrew stared at her then laughed. "I thought you would be more interested in dancing." He took one of her hands, tugging her toward the mob of dancing party goers.
Paulina usually didn't mind agreeing to a dance, but she pulled her hand free. "I don't really feel like dancing right now." Her gaze darted toward Sam and Tucker who were enjoying some refreshments at the moment. Then she searched out Danny again. He moved away from the redhead at some point and made his way through the crowd.
"Why do you keep looking at that loser?" Andrew demanded after following her gaze.
Paulina frowned as she snapped her head around toward him again. "Danny is not a loser." She glared when Andrew snorted like her statement was funny or worth scoffing at. "Danny is a great guy."
"He's a freak that likes dressing up like a girl." Andrew's face wrinkled in disgust.
Angry at that comment, Paulina's eyes narrowed darkly. Her fist slammed into his gut. She ignored his gasping as she turned and walked away from him. Why was it so hard for her to find a decent man?
"Sorry, guys," Ember said from the stage. "I'll be taking a small break." Some partygoers groaned in disappointment as Ember hopped off the small stage. The band remained behind, continuing to fill the club with music.
Paulina frowned as her gaze tracked Ember through the crowd toward the exit of the club. Her brow furrowed as she wondered where the singer was going. Weaving her way through the crowd, Paulina followed Ember outside the club. "What's going on?" she asked when they were alone. She glanced past the singer to realize they weren't as alone as she thought. Danny stood a few feet before them. His clothes were still the same as what he wore to the club, but his hair was white like when he changed to Danny Phantom. "What's going on?"
"I don't know," Ember confessed, worry creeping into her voice. "He seemed a bit off when he was heading for the exit, so I came to check on him."
"What do you mean a bit off?" Paulina frowned at Danny. Clearly something wasn't quite right if the man was standing out here in his ghost form. But why didn't his clothes change to the usual black and white jumpsuit?
"Not again," Danny groaned, turning halfway toward them as he rubbed at his face. "This is seriously getting annoying. Can't they just take the hint?" He tilted his head up toward the sky. "You can keep summoning me all you like, but I'm ignoring you."
"Danny," Paulina said, stepping closer toward her friend. She reached out toward him but hesitated when Danny snapped his head around toward them, green eyes flashing. There was a look like he only just realized there were other people around him. "Danny, what's going on?"
"This is so not how things were supposed to go," Danny muttered with a sigh. He rolled his eyes toward the sky, glaring at the twinkling stars above them. "Don't you get it yet? I'm done with your shit."
Ember stepped past Paulina and grabbed hold of Danny's shoulder. "Snap out of it, dipstick," she ordered as she shook him. "Who are you even shouting at?"
Danny folded his arms as he closed his eyes. Paulina watched the two of them with worry. Danny was acting weird, and it scared her. After a moment, with his brow knitted in concentration, his hair darkened. When he opened his eyes, Danny blinked bright blue eyes. He stumbled in disorientation, but Ember held onto him, steadying him.
"Why do I have such a headache?" Danny rubbed at his forehead, pain scrunching up his face.
"Danny, what just happened?" Paulina asked with a worried frown.
Danny lifted his head and stared at the two women. "What?" he asked dumbly. "And what are we doing outside?"
"You don't remember what just happened?" Ember lifted an eyebrow, but concern made her frown.
"I remember ditching that Alan guy after he tried groping me," Danny answered, scratching at his head in thought. "After that," he shrugged, "I don't know. Did something happen?"
Paulina shared a worried look with Ember. "Uh, you kind of went ghost and started yelling at the sky."
The news shook Danny, staring in stunned silence at them. "That's," he swallowed nervously, "a bit disconcerting. That's never happened before."
"Maybe we should go have a talk with Vlad," Ember suggested.
"But you were playing-"
"It's fine," Paulina cut in with a smile. "I'll just tell them something came up. The band's still there, so it's not like we won't have music."
"I'm sorry about ruining-"
Paulina shook her head. "You didn't ruin anything. Besides, if something serious is going on with you, I'd rather you get that checked on." She frowned at him, the worry returning to her emerald eyes. "I don't want something bad happening to you."
Danny nodded jerkily then glanced to Ember. "I guess we better go find Vlad."
Paulina waved as Danny and Ember headed off down the street. She waited there for several moments as she watched them. When they were out of sight, Paulina sighed, hugging her arms about her body. Tonight was meant to be fun for them all, even if she secretly hoped Danny wouldn't find someone. Now she would be worrying the rest of the night about what happened to Danny. Turning back to the club, she went to search for Sam and Tucker to inform them about she witnessed with Danny.